SSo, lesson learned for today, I think... Have more defined plans.
Our day, while fun and amazing, didn't go the way I thought it would.
 |
| The view from our hotel room when we woke up |
After our sad night last night, we were up by 7:30, with a lovely start to the day. Afterward, while we were relaxing, I wondered if it would be possible to pick up our rental SUV earlier than the 10am I'd originally scheduled it for. I called down to the Budget/Avis desk and was told that the vehicle was at the shop for an oil change, but the clerk would get it ready for me asap and call me when it was ready.
We were able to pick it up at 9, which was great, but I still had to return the Penske, so what was my rush? Duh doi, Lazy. Duh doi. I left as quickly as possible to return the truck, and halfway to the car, I realized I'd forgotten the Garmin. No big, I thought... I'll just use my phone's navigation. It wouldn't be me if I didn't miss a turn, so of course the trip to the return place took three times as long because it rerouted me in a weird way.
Once I got there, I couldn't figure out where the place was (it was inside a mechanic shop). I told the clerk (Wendy? Brenda? She was nice, whatever her name was) that I was returning it, and bless her heart, she reminded me to fill the tank (otherwise, it would be $10 a gallon to fill it up! Yikes!!).
Once the tank was full, the keys were dropped off, and I picked up an Uber back to the hotel, where Hubby had finished packing up the room while I was gone. We rolled all of our junk over to the SUV and hit the road (after a swooningly delicious "This is the first day of the rest of our lives" kiss from Hubby)!
The plan for the day was to actually go North, first to do shit in Sheboygan, then on to a local cheese factory, into Green Bay, then back down for some fun in the snow.
We stopped for soda at a KwikTrip (store #879) in Saukville, between the hotel and Sheboygan. I've never been to a KT before, so I didn't know what to expect. When we first walked in, we checked out the snacks and packaged items, which were typical convenience store fare. The other half of the store is where the magic happened... There was a lady - Gretchen - standing there offering samples of their new Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes with Gravy. At a gas station. Sure, what the hell. Oh, fuck... they were good!!! I shared a bite with Hubby, but hoarded the rest for myself.
We ended up having a great chat with Gretchen (and later, Justin, the manager) about Wisconsin and the local area. When she heard we were from Florida, she asked us if what she heard about our state (about Covid, on the news) was true. We explained that people were not dying in droves, or anything like that; that most of what she'd heard on the news was lies and exaggerations. I think we must have chatted with her for a half-hour! It was great, and she was so very nice.
Over in the Magic Side of the store, they had soups, hot food (the aforementioned chicken and potatoes, as well as hamburgers, pizza, corn dogs and the like), a salad bar, fresh-baked pastries, pre-made sandwiches, take-and-bake items, and, of course, a great soda fountain.
I was blown away by this place. It's definitely a step up from a RaceTrac, and similar to a Wawa, but on a different level. I'm still pretty loyal to Wawa, but KT is a very close #2 contender for Best Convenience Store that we've visited.
Once we got to Sheboygan, we stopped at the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge to take some photos of the (very frozen) Sheboygan river before continuing on to the Lottie Cooper/Marina area to take pictures of Lake Michigan (1 of 5 Great Lakes visited!)
 |
| Sheboygan River |
 |
| Lake Michigan |
 |
| How do I get over to those stairs? |
 |
| Lottie Cooper Lighthouse |
 |
| One of the ice machines at the Marina |
 |
| Obligatory Duck Butt |
 |
| I found out how to get to the stairs |
 |
| Stairs Selfie! |
I was hoping for more specific adventures in Sheboygan, but I never actually picked anything to do, thinking we'd just wing it when we got here, so after the lake, we actually just ended up scoping out some of the beautiful shoreline houses in the area before making our way north to Scray Cheese.
The drive north, on Interstate 41, by the way, was amazingly peaceful. Very good roads, very peaceful traffic. Sometimes it felt like we were the only car on the road! Anyway, after exiting the interstate, we drove through random farmland until we got to Scray Cheese.
 |
| There were a lot more turns than depicted on this map |
A review I'd read online for this place said "It's a great place if you're in the area, but don't make a special trip" was spot on. It was a tiny place! But it had lots and lots of cheese to choose from. We opted to pick up from fresh cheese curds (so good!) and a small tub of sharp cheddar spread.
Our next step was supposed to be Green Bay, which we headed towards, but once we got there, we discovered that... well... we really didn't want to do anything. I didn't actually plan any activities in Green Bay, or anywhere to stop, so we kind of just drove around aimlessly (I mean, come on... we didn't even go see the actual BAY). Oh well, I guess. We can say we went. I picked up some snackage at another Kwik Trip, trying their mac & cheese and a corn dog. Sadly, both were meh at best.
Finally, though, it was time to head back south to the thing I'd been waiting for this entire trip so far - we're going snow tubing!!!! Yes, this Florida-born and Florida-bred girl is gonna throw herself down a snow-covered mountain. Repeatedly.
So we get to Sunburst Winter Sports Park, in Kewaskum, and... hmmm... it seems not very busy at all. Granted, it's a Tuesday. Maybe not a lot of people want to play in the snow on a Tuesday.
 |
| Hello? Anybody home? |
Wait...
pulls up Facebook page...
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
So, if you remember, when I was planning this trip, I was so scared that it was going to be freezing. And when we began our trip, I was so happy that it wasn't going to be freezing. So... maybe I should have shut the fuck up and let it be freezing...
 |
| It was also officially the end of the season, too. |
Defeated, we headed to the hotel, looking for somewhere for dinner. Once we got to West Bend, we drove around a few miles in each direction to get a lay of the land. While we did this, we got lost and used a random parking lot to turn around in, and found a tiny parking lot for the Ice Age Trail, so with a cry of adventure!, we bundled up and 'hiked' it for 10-15 minutes.
 |
| We only walked part of the little loop at the very bottom |
 |
| I can't put my arms down! |
Afterward we picked up dinner at KwikTrip, and checked in at our hotel.
 |
| Cheese-Stuffed Breadsticks and Pizza Slice (meh) |
 |
| I still took a bath in it, though! |
Clean and relaxed, I hopped in bed to tweet and sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment